MÖRK GRYNING

Returning from self-imposed obscurity in 2016, Sweden's MÖRK GRYNING have taken a meticulous approach to honoring their legacy. Perennially underrated as they are, they have always been a respected presence in the underground, and 2020 comeback album "Hinsides vrede" did nothing to change that. It was a more mature and sophisticated take on the seething extremity that informed earlier albums like "Maelstrom Chaos" (2001),but one riddled with malicious intent and malevolent ethics from a former era. Black metal can be as complicated as it likes, but when a band has a sound that consistently nails the basics, and imbues them with plenty of subversive spirit, records like "Fasornas tid" are impossible to deny. It is also abundantly apparent that MÖRK GRYNING are far more adept at conjuring atmospheres today than they ever were during their initial lifespan. Songs like "Before The Crows Have Their Feast" and "Black Angel" are miniature masterclasses, as the discordant and the primitive blend seamlessly with the ornate and the dramatic, and everything works in service of the song (and, presumably, Satan).

"Savage Messiah" has a gorgeous chorus melody that somehow survives the Swedes' taste for grotesquery, and many similar melodies arise elsewhere, adding color to that song's harsh pomp, as well as to the laser-focused fury of "Tornet" and to the grandiose, shape-shifting (true) metal of opener "The Seer". A stellar production job from Sverker Widgren and the band themselves adds plenty of fuel to the fire, too. "Fasornas Tid" sounds like a big deal black metal album: monstrous, perfectly paced, and radiant with fine detail. Co-founding rhythm section Goth Gorgon and Draakh Kimera hold everything together with a ruthless, unrelenting rumble that really picks up speed after eerie, acoustic diversion "Barren Paths". "The Serpent's Kiss" is a song that haughtily encapsulates the essence of Swedish black metal, at least of the melodic variety.

Despite clear echoes of fellow masters MARDUK and NAGLFAR, MÖRK GRYNING's attack extends beyond white-knuckle, blasting violence, and into more expansive territory. "Det Svarta" is built on blank-eyed battery, but its warped choral vocals and deeply strange, goth guitar work are symptoms of a fervently progressive mindset. Even the closing track, "Age Of Fire", which adheres to a rigid, visceral course, has palpable hidden depths that bubble up from the Swedes' coruscating, high-speed percussive assault and windswept wall of icy guitars.

Back for good and flourishing, MÖRK GRYNING have often been overshadowed by flashier, more commercially minded bands, but the quality of their music has never been in doubt. On "Fasornas Tid", they hurl Swedish black metal back into our terrified faces, and it feels pretty good.